What do you do if you're faced with a stressful emergency situation and need to stay composed?

Being able to go from a sympathetic state to a parasympathetic state is so important. The daily practice of deep breathing prepares you to return to a parasympathetic state in an emergency. This sounds like a simple intervention but the effects of this practice should not be minimized. It is beneficial on so many levels.

We all have minute situations that make us uncomfortable, anxiety and excitement are relative behaviors that occur within us in distress. Once you are able to identify and address the fear and it’s normal to be more sharp, mentally speaking, it usually has a better outcome to the result of your performance. Also adequate training, stress management, and self care prepares yourself in predicaments that you would need to use these techniques. It’s key to have a solid foundation of a support system as well to handle the stress before and after a critical event to prepare for worse and plan for the best.

This is a difficult trait to cultivate. In all honesty, it can take years to achieve. You get there by going to emergencies. By repetition. By pushing down that adrenaline on every ring of the bell. You learn over time that the calls that go badly are the ones that start out with a screamer showing up first. You learn to analyze each situation and doing your personal CAN (Conditions/Actions/Needs) assessment on every call, no matter how minor. You do this until it becomes muscle memory. It never hurts to wargame in your head. Look at each hazard in your first due and give it the worst scenario. Then, formulate your plan. Oh, and remember to breathe.

1) Keep your eyes on the big picture. We are there to solve a problem, not get involved with being the problem. 2) Stand on your confidence. All emergency situations are stressful but the fact that you have managed other situations is indicative of the fact that you can manage this one. 3) Maintain professional "indifference" which is balanced with appropriate empathy. Remember that people are not reacting to you, they are reacting to the situation. Remain objective and don't take the things they say or do personally. 4) Keep your eyes and ears open. Don't let the stress contributor be your focus.

Staying composed during a stressful emergency situation is essential for effective decision-making, communication, and leadership.

Being in the profession for more than a decade & facing multiple such situations professionals tend to learn more. Not because of their actions but also because of their inactions. It's like, what if I wouldn't have done this? or that? All hypothetical scenarios. In almost all cases, I chose to be calm & composed before handling the situation. There is a 03 letter word which I generally use during the emergency evacuation sessions i.e. RED Where "R" stands for React "E" stands for evaluate & "D" stands for decide. So simple but most of the time people tend to forget. This 03 letter word can do wonders if one will analyse the situation and react accordingly by ensuring no losses.

Initial thoughts. Some emergencies may require a quick assessment and plan of action to implement to minimize further damage or impact. However, it is always good to get as much information and situational awareness in order to optimize any response. The response above cited the who, what, when and where of gathering information. Initial planning is focused on resolving the emergency and reducing any threat or minimizing further damage. However, follow on planning will continue focused on to any recovery and remediation requirements depending on type of emergency.

one great book to assess the situation both individually and collectively and take a team approach is called: "extreme ownership" by j. wilink. assess > evaluate > options > decision > execute > cover and move debrief collaborate take owenership improve repeat

Toujours évaluer la situation avec calme et discernement et prendre les décisions les plus rationnelles et rapides dans le calme de manière à ne pas communiquer un sentiment de panique ou de perte de contr?le

When training meets reality you have to choose what you know will get you through. Be sure of yourself and your skills, hestitation kills!

We plan, train, exercise and make checklists for a reason. When stress, time and the fog-of-war conspire against you, take refuge in the pre-built protocols you made when you were calm, collected and surrounded by fellow planners and professionals. Follow the protocol. Once you begin grasping the problem, you can adjust, but the protocol will get you moving in at least what should be close to the right direction.

Most who will be involved have trained prior and should drop down into muscle memory. Emotions and feelings are not relevant and should be the last thing to enter your mind. You have trained yourself to be strong, professional, and effective. That’s the end goal. Let your training begin and run with it.

Plus on prévoit plus on efficace le moment venu La protocolisation ne permet pas de tout prévenir mais d’éviter les erreurs grossières et la perte de temps Elle augmente l’efficacité de nos collaborateurs et diminue leur stress et c’est bien la le plus important car de facto on augmente leur efficacité

Stay composed. Nature vs nurture. Some need checklists and a boot in the @$$ to get moving when surprised or adrenaline kicks in. Some do not. Experience and evidence, referrals and results should be how hiring is done, not papers and phone calls to parents and professors.

effective communication is everything: and the most important people need people and they realize that. there are a number of ways to communicate and there are a number of ways to communicate to get the right people on the bus. the most important decision that an organization can make is who gets on the bus. what type of people do they want on the bus, or on the team. on of the best books to get the right people on the bus and to effectively communicate with your team is the energy bus by jon gordon. buy the book, read it, live it, then give the book away for someone else to read. buy it for your team even if u r not the boss. it is about effective communication. but for that to happen, you have to have to best people on the bus!

La communication est fondamentale dans ce type de situations urgentes ?? Les ordres doivent être donnés simplement calmement rechercher l’efficience dans le calme et la serenite

Effective Comms up and down the chain of command will allow for the sharing of information to be smooth. But it is also Important to share the information across the organisation as well. Listen to the responder on the ground and provide the support that need.

Communicate calmly and with listening ears is essential in any crisis situation. Then assess and analyze for the most appropriate, effective and logical solution for the best action plan.

An element of understanding and expectation must exist in order for us to identify that something is an "emergency" Planning for these types of events and having contingencies in place will lay some foundations for effective communications when such a situation materialises. The collective experience of a workforce harbours everything we need to deal with most situations. Having quality, team conversations on a regular basis and encouraging everyone to connect with the subject matter is crucial to the effectiveness of how we respond and deal with any emergency. In such a situation - Having clearly defined roles and responsibilities, the ability to stop and think before acting, and strong leadership, are key.

Always load the boat! Call/have someone call for help. Then begin methodically addressing the emergency one thing at a time. The goal is to start with the most critical issue and work out from there. If the primary issue is not immediately apparent, start somewhere! Pick something and then begin to unravel the issue. Call people by name when asking for a task to be completed. This helps with clarity and order in an otherwise potentially chaotic environment. These steps, tasks, working through things methodically often happen in seconds. Time is critical but must be ordered to make progress.

During an incident it is important to look after yourself especially if the incident is protected. Do not attend if you are not initially involved unless you are on-call. You may be required to take over so the original command can rest. Working long hours will lead to decision fatigue and mistakes Post incident seeks support if required and brings up your concerns during a debrief that high light way of potential improvements

Stay in the now by focussing on your breathing. This may help you process what’s happening; thereby, helping your judgment and decisions. I know this sounds simplistic but we have to be grounded while trying to respond or we will react. Being aware what’s happening is the key to dealing with the situation properly.

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you are a human being; first and foremost. This means that you have physical reactions to environmental stimuli. You also have emotional reactions to the same physical reactions from environmental stimuli. Knowing this is one of the most important elements for you to manage your reactions within an emergency situation. Being in the field of emergency management for over 27 year, I can honestly say that no two incidents have produced the exact same level of emotions. However, I can say experience and understanding allows you to continually focus and, in most cases, temporarily push abnormal reactions to the side while you deal with the priority issues at hand.

Deep breathing and keeping calm. It is important to practice techniques during non-stressful times. Yin yoga, meditation, singing, and cold water plunges are very effective activities that I use. They are all known to re-set the vagus nerve.

I would like to add that remaining calm is of utmost importance as others who look to you for leadership and decision making will follow your example, remain calm, ask questions, focus on the highest priority then the next.

Emergency situation by nature are stressful, so the best thing is to be prepared. The old adage 7p’s poor, poor preparation, promotes, poor, poor performance, (I kept it clean). Practise, use and test standard operating procedures. Look at what you maybe faced with and run simulation. Communication in emergency is extremely difficult, so again think about what may need to be communicated and practise the communicating the information that needs to be transmitted. Work with other agencies in simulations, get used to the other people you will be working with. Be prepared to be flexible. Good flexibility comes from knowing the rules and procedures not from making it up on the fly. The more practised you are the lower your stress will be.